Panthers safety Roman Harper has big fan in Saints coach Sean Payton

Summary of 2 articles · Updated Mar 24, 2014

New Carolina Panthers safety Roman Harper was a part of New Orleans coach Sean Payton’s first draft class with the Saints. And even though he'll potentially run into one of his former players twice in 2014, Payton couldn't have been happier to see former … (more)Saints safety Roman Harper land on his feet with Carolina after being released by the Saints last month. Payton said Harper "definitely has more years ahead of him" in the league as the Saints' second-round pick in 2006 inked a two-year deal with the Panthers last week. Harper spent the first eight years of his career in New Orleans and Payton noticeably holds a soft spot for one of his original draft picks, especially since Harper helped the Saints win the Super Bowl in 2009. Harper, who signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal with the Panthers last week, started only five games last season as he dealt with a knee injury that sidelined him seven games. "When you're with a player like that, who's in your initial draft class, who was our second-round pick, who's been a part of all our playoffs, who's been a part of our Super Bowl, two NFC championship he's been a part of everything," Payton said Monday at the NFL owners meetings. "If you're looking at a handful of players that you'd say, 'Man, these guys were the foundation of what we built,' he's one of those guys.